


The Addressing of Cats

by Selenay



Series: Assorted Fictional Recollections (AKA the prompt fics) [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, It's not really about the kitten, pet adoption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-01
Updated: 2014-02-01
Packaged: 2018-01-10 19:56:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1163851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selenay/pseuds/Selenay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy and Natasha are definitely not adopting a kitten. Not even a dumpster kitten. Not even a dumpster kitten with a pink nose. Definitely not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Addressing of Cats

**Author's Note:**

> I put out a call for fic prompts and kittenskysong asked for Darcy/Natasha, adopting a pet. It grew into slightly more than a Tumblr ficlet. Everyone look surprised.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not hygienic."

"It's a kitten!"

"Exactly. You don't know where it's been."

"She's been warming up in my boobs for the last hour."

There was a quiet 'ping' and Natasha pulled the phone away from her ear to look at the message that had just arrived. It was a photo of Darcy in a warm, snuggly sweater with a tiny kitten's face peering out of the low neckline. The kitten was grey and its fur was sticking in wild directions, as though it was having a really bad hair day and would probably have a bad hair life forever. It was also tiny and its nose was pink.

Natasha definitely did not find it adorable.

Nor did she feel a moment of jealousy that the kitten got to be so close to Darcy's breasts, while she was three states away in a freezing motel room and stuck there until the storm cleared and she could finish her mission.

"No," Natasha said, trying to project firmness and determination into her voice despite the photograph. "We are not adopting a kitten. Particularly not one you found in the dumpster behind your building."

"Why not?"

"Adopting a pet is..." Natasha hesitated, trying to make the words happen in the right order. "It's something that means...it's...it's a big commitment."

There was a pause on the other end of the line and Natasha could easily imagine the frustration on Darcy's face. She'd seen it often enough over the last eighteen months.

"Solemnly swear," Darcy said, "if this all goes badly wrong, we'll figure out a custody arrangement for the cat that works out for both of us. I won't get nasty and I won't demand alimony for her. "

Natasha smiled despite her best intentions. "That's not what I meant."

"Sure it isn't."

"It's not!"

"Natasha, I love you. I love this kitten. We can make it work. I mean, look at that face. Can you really send her back out into the cold and the rain?"

The photograph that arrived this time showed the kitten snuggled next to Darcy's face, her tiny paw patting Darcy's nose. Natasha wondered when she'd become the kind of person who smiled at photos of kittens and wanted to reach out and touch their ears.

Or maybe she was smiling at photos of Darcy and the kitten was just collateral damage. It was difficult to tell sometimes.

"I wasn't going to make you put her out in the rain," Natasha said. "I was thinking more along the lines of taking her to an animal shelter. There are plenty of them in New York, I've heard."

"But her tiny little nose!"

"I'm not sure why her nose is a good argument for adopting her."

"It's pink and adorable."

"What would we do with a kitten?"

"Pet her. Cuddle her. Buy her laser pointers to play with."

"We can't adopt a kitten."

***

It was another two days before Natasha finally got back to New York. She sat through her debriefing with well-disguised impatience, and allowed the medical team to confirm that the cuts on her arms were superficial with slightly less well-disguised impatience. When she was finally released, she made a couple of stops in stores with terrible puns in the name before heading to Darcy's apartment.

Maybe she should finally admit that it was her apartment as well. She hadn't spent the night in her own apartment for months.

Whoever's apartment it was, she let herself in and waited for a moment, just in case anyone was still awake to greet her, before padding silently into the living room to stand next to the couch. Darcy was sprawled out asleep on it with an old quilt tucked around her legs and a tiny fuzzy bundle of fur tucked between her neck and her shoulder. Natasha smiled softly down at her and reached out to touch the kitten with the tip of one finger.

The kitten didn't stir but Darcy did. She blinked up sleepily and grinned.

"You didn't take her to a shelter," Natasha said.

"I can see why they made you a spy. It's those keen observational skills."

"Have you named her yet?"

"I thought we should do that together. The vet says she's about six weeks old, she's been treated for the fleas she came with, and she's healthy."

Natasha leaned down to kiss Darcy, tasting coffee and chocolate on her lips. Darcy sighed into the kiss and Natasha remembered all over again why she was here. Not just for the kiss, even though it was something Darcy was very good at, but for all the things that came with Darcy and her kisses: companionship, laughter, and that aching feeling in her chest that Natasha thought might be love.

A tiny warm foot hit Natasha on the cheek. She looked up, ignoring the protesting noise Darcy made, and found the kitten peering at her with big blue eyes barely two inches from her nose. The kitten tilted her head curiously and made a tiny 'peep' that might have been an attempt to meow.

Natasha straightened up and the kitten followed the movement with big startled eyes. She reached into her pocket and pulled out one of her purchases. Carefully angling it away from the kitten's face, Natasha flicked the button on and a little dot of red light appeared on the sofa cushion a couple of feet from the kitten.

For a moment the kitten didn't seem to know what to do. Natasha twitched the pointed, making the dot move, and the kitten pounced. Natasha shifted the dot along the cushions and chuckled when the kitten darted after it with ungainly leaps.

"I've got a name list," Darcy said with a triumphant grin. "We should pick something out."

The kitten pounced and accidentally rolled into a summersault off the sofa onto the floor. Undeterred, it ran after the laser pointer for several minutes until it abruptly yawned, curled up, and went to sleep in the middle of the carpet.

Natasha turned off the pointer and allowed Darcy to pull her down on to the sofa. 

"Maybe her nose is a little bit adorable. Maybe," she said, trying to sound reluctant and grumpy.

Darcy kissed her and Natasha gave in and shrugged philosophically. Apparently she'd adopted a cat with her girlfriend. Huh.


End file.
